WFHB Local News – September 25th, 2024
This is the WFHB Local News for Wednesday, September 25th, 2024. Later in the program, Big Talk host Michael Glab speaks with political scientist Jeff Isaac who works as a professor at Indiana University. More in today’s feature report. Also coming up in the next half hour, “Cryptocurrency Scams” on Better Beware – your weekly consumer-watchdog segment on the WFHB Local News. More following today’s feature. But first, your local headlines: Bloomington City Council During the September 20th meeting of the Bloomington City Council, Council Member Kate Rosenbarger started the meeting by reporting for “Safe Streets for All.” She reported most crashes occurring on Bloomington streets are at speeds of 30 miles per hour or higher. She said that “Safe Streets for All” encourages a 20-mile-per-hour speed limit, but Indiana makes this difficult due to their speed limit minimum being set to 25 miles per hour except for school zones and related zones. Post-crash care and the structure of the second highest priority intersection, 3rd and College are being looked into. During his council report, Council Member Isak Asare reminded the public that we are in the midst of National Hispanic Heritage Month running from September 15th to October 15th. For more information, visit Bloomington.in.gov/latino/nhhm. Next, the council heard a report from the Bloomington Housing Authority Director of Real Estate Development, Nathan Ferreira, who spoke on the development of the Summit Hill Works. Ferreira said that because incomes don’t keep pace with rising housing costs, more and more subsidies are required to develop affordable housing. He explained that the primary purpose of the Community Land Trust is to acquire and hold land and perpetuity for the benefit of the community. While the Community Land Trust retains ownership of the land, it is used to develop or renovate housing to be sold affordably to income-qualifying households. He shared that with Clear Creek modular homes, they have been able to build four homes, and two are under construction. One two-bedroom home is currently available for purchase. With land excluded from the equation, Ferreira said homes range from $205,000 to $226,500. Ferreira shared a story of a homeowner who was able to buy a home through their program. He said that she is a single mother of four and works at a local bank, and could not afford a home in Bloomington. She is a graduate of the Bloomington Housing Authorities Family Self-Sufficiency Program, so she was able to convert her Section 8 voucher into a mortgage payment. The opportunities Summer Hill Works has provided her have been able to create some stability. Ferriera spoke on another housing situation. Ferriera explained that projects have an affordability period, and when they expire, they often go to the market rate. With their model, this won’t happen, because it will still be part of Summit Hill, which has an affordability mission. They are planning to complete a Learning Center and Core Community flats in 2026. They are also aiming to build out current Community Land Trust homes by early 2027. You can apply for one of these homes by completing their information session found on info@hsc.org, and completing the city's Home Buyers Club which also creates access to $10,000 in down payment assistance. The Federal Home Loan bank of Indianapolis has an additional Down Payment Assistance Program for minority home buyers of up to $25,000 that can be paired with the cities. Next, during public comment, Bloomington Resident Greg Alexander called the skywalk a show of “segregation” between those exper...
